OverDrive - Johnston on Marchand's high contract value, the Panthers keeping the same team and the Oilers' goaltending choices

Episode Date: June 16, 2025

TSN Hockey Insider Chris Johnston joined OverDrive to discuss the headlines from the Stanley Cup Final, Brad Marchand's contract value and his sweepstakes from around the league, the Oilers' goaltending choice for Game 6, the Panthers looking to bring the band back together and more.

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BC. Thoughts are limited, so register now at careerfoundation.com. That's careerfoundation.com. Join today and be part of something amazing. Here's Chris Johnston, our TSN Hockey Insider. Do you have a read on when it would get uncomfortable for teams with Brad Marchand? In other words, the term and the dollar amount that would kind of a consensus through the league, people would say, I don't know, I don't think I can do that. And I can't give him that on July 1st.

Well, honestly, I think my feeling with him is that he's going to make teams uncomfortable on both parts because, you know, he's 37 years old and it seems like a four-year deal is going to be out there for him and, you know, the contract's going to go north of 8 million, which I think is probably about, you know, the comfort level for teams. But I mean, we have to remember, we are going into a different world. It's hard for us to sit here and forecast it, but you know the length of any free agent contract that's signed July 1st is going to cover the cap going from you know the high 80s million into you know 115 million ish within three years. And so you know that's going to be a dramatic change. Basically a simple math that tells you a six million million player

today in three years will be a nine million dollar player if you just do the the average for for the way the cap's going so you know i think we have to prepare ourselves for that not just when it comes to marsham but anyone who signs in this next wave that that's coming in two weeks time and you know with marsham in particular i just think he's he's kind of a unicorn in a sense um you know, and if anything, I think this run in Florida's done in wonders because you can see, like, he can fit in with a different team. It wasn't just a Boston thing for him. And obviously for him getting in playoff games, you know, he's energized by this stage. And I think a lot of teams that are going to be shopping on July 1st, the Leafs included,

are looking for players that can thrive in this environment. CJ, when you say that his deal will be worth over $8 million or eight or over, is that because you've talked to sources that say that they would give him that? For sure. And there's a lot of teams, obviously, that I think have interest in him. There's maybe a little fewer that have interest in them in that price, but that's the beauty of being a free agent at a time when the cap's going up, and also coming off this kind of run in the playoffs

where it's been undeniable. For me, what stands out, the goals are one thing. It's like the way he's scoring them. These aren't just tap-ins at the side of the net where someone else is doing all the work, and even just some of the off-ice stuff. We know that the Panthers are good enough to win a cup. They won it last year with Brad Marchand not on their team. But I honestly don't think they're here without him in this run because

they haven't had the same type of impact from a lot of their other top players offensively specifically. And he's transformed their third line where really no other team can go head to head with the way that they produce. So yeah, there's definitely teams that are going to give him that. Someone's going to give him that. And he's in a really fantastic position, one, because he can win a cup tomorrow night, which has been a long time coming for him personally.

And then two, he's going to cash in here in two weeks' time. CJ, can you refresh me? Like, how did he end up in Florida like I remember it was like maybe they'll trade him maybe they won't then it's just like Florida gets him how did that happen? Well the reason there was some uncertainty right up until the deadline is because contract talks were going on with the Bruins you know in that final week before leading up to March 7th and you know there was even in a meeting that Brad initiated himself with management to

try to get it done. I mean this wasn't a player that was looking to get traded. He wasn't one that asked to get traded. He did have a limited no trade clause and did block a move to Western Conference team prior to going to Florida but you know Florida wasn't on the list of teams and they obviously stepped up and made this deal and so basically that's it is that the Bruins and Marchand couldn't find a number that worked I think they were looking at something like a sweater number 6.3 million you know he wasn't having a great season to that point to be fair you know coming off the surgeries last summer you know this was not as this is I think his least productive

year in about 10 years in the regular season, but he's obviously feeling better now. He's been healthy for a stretch of time and I think he's reinvigorated his career to be honest. It's not that he was sputtering out, but he's in a position where he can credibly ask for the kind of money we're talking about after this kind of performance. I think it's been that good and it might have erased some of the concerns you might have had and that the Bruins might have had at that time you know in early March when you know his production was going in the wrong direction so you know it's one of those cases obviously Boston traded away a number of

established players at that point in time and you know they're doing a little bit of a reboot and you know he was a valuable enough asset for them they got a first-round pick and you know now that he's been sent away from there I think he's he's free to hit the open market and you know maximize his earning potential. With Chris Johnston, who's playing in goal for the Oilers tomorrow night?, I'm expecting it to be Stuart Skinner. But the fact it's a question and kind of tells you something that you're at this stage of the game. I know Chris Knobloch likes to keep his... He's not been a coach even earlier in the playoffs

who's coming out and naming the starter in moments like this where there's some doubt about it. But you're going into a game this big and he's still keeping the cards close. It does sound like it's going to be Skinner and I think that probably makes the most sense. He played game seven for them last year. It certainly wasn't the reason they lost the 2-1 game. He's been their starter for a long time. Credit to Pickard, but he didn't do anything in game five that made

you think he had to be back in there and so there's no hiding this this is a pretty desperate spot for Edmonton you know they're leaking a little bit of oil on the blue line there's a question in net they don't have enough offense below their top guys but they got to find a way to win a game and then they get a game seven on home ice which is what any team anywhere would be killing for and so I think they're going to trust in Skinner to win that game tomorrow. Yeah it is pretty incredible that that's a storyline hitting into game six of the Stanley Cup final but it is and so is you know the Connor McDavid Leon Drysaddle story and McDavid was asked today about being the best player in the game and you know the pressure of him winning and I'm curious what you've

picked up from being around the Oilers you know how would you compare the way you know they appear to be you know emotionally mentally all that kind of stuff what they're portraying today compared to what they were portraying prior to game one well and I'll say even being around them last year in that cup final when they got back into it I mean they are they're definitely comfortable in this environment now that doesn't at all guarantee they're gonna find a way somehow to win these last two and raise the cup but you know they they can credibly say they've been through this and and seen through it the other side I mean you can go back to round two of

last year's playoffs in Vancouver they had to win game six and seven to get through that series. They did go down 3-0 in last year's cup final and force it to the game seven. This is the first time in this year's playoffs that they've actually faced elimination. But I do think they are a little bit of a team that likes to flirt with danger. Even the two games they won in this series, they went down by two in the first game, and then went down by three in the second one that they managed to win game four here in Florida. So, you know, they like to kind of ride the lightning a little bit and, you know,

sort of daredevil kind of stuff. And this is, you're down to zero margin for error. So, you know, what my sense is today is, you know, McDavid seemed very focused. I thought he was, you know, said some interesting stuff at the podium, know on his scale probably not a lot of headline grabbers but he was he's pretty open about what's going on here about his mindset you know he did mention that he thinks he can be better and you know

I by no means do I think this is on him solely I mean he's got seven points in five games in the series it's most players would love to struggle to struggle to that degree. But he's still waiting maybe for a big breakthrough moment. I think specifically early in the game. The Oilers have trailed so often in the series and that's been tough. He had some chances in the first period and gave five on Saturday and didn't convert. Connor Brown had a good look earlier in that game too. So I think every team obviously wants to play good all 60 minutes and score first and blah, blah, but I do think it makes a difference if Edmonton can get ahead in that game. If McDavid maybe is the one that does it for him, I'd like to see him be a little more

selfish at times, especially maybe on the power play, putting more pucks to the net because I do think he tends to look for the perfect pass and we've already seen in this series he's capable of it because he made a pretty glorious move on the goal from Dry Saito earlier in this series but I think he's got more goals in his stick if he's got a shooting mentality. CJ, we've talked a lot about Bennett and where will he go, how much will he make and Marchand and Ekblad. How much of an appetite do you think the Florida

Panthers will have to say, let's find somehow some way to keep as much of the band back together and go at this for three in a row? Because I don't see any reason why if the majority of those pieces aren't together, they can't take another stab at it. I see what you did there, O. you subtly just gave them this cup win for two in a row. You know, I think what happens in the next three or four days aside, for sure they'd like to keep the players. You know, one thing Florida does that I think they've had success with is they hold the line in negotiations. They have some ability to do so because they've got other players on certain numbers. And so I think they can

say, hey, you know, you're not making more than Barkov you're not making more you know they're they're kind of been able to create that game that we've seen other teams do in the past where there's almost internal type of cap which has been successful and so I think what makes this this year so interesting is I don't know how they'll react if you know someone like Sam Bennett you know doesn't doesn't buy into that. If he looks at his playoffs, 15 goals and counting, perhaps a Consmite trophy, and the ability to take that to market and be a free agent and maybe pass on those kind of deals,

then it might break the structure and it might force Florida to do something else. But they're a really well-run front office. They've made a ton of good decisions. If you look at how like half these guys ended up on the roster, it's through trades, it's – they've got waiver pickups playing key roles on this team. They've signed guys that were bought out and revived their career, including even last year, Alvar Echman-Larson, before he landed in Toronto. You've got Nate Schmidt in that spot now.

This is a front office that's had a lot of hits down the lineup. And I think that they'll have the confidence if the numbers get what they deem to be goofy with any of those players, they'll just let them walk and, you know, bank on the fact that they've got a great track record of identifying talent and finding guys. So, you know, the opportunity will be there for the players to stay, but I think the Panthers are the sort of team that's only going to go so far in those negotiations and then the players will have a decision to make

because the flip side, oh, if you see them as a team that can do that, I mean, I have to believe the guys inside feel that way too. And so, you know, I'm looking around on a sunny day here and I'm thinking why would anyone leave when you're, you know, on a first-class organization that's winning a ton of games that treat you right, great weather, no state income tax, not that we need to beat that around anymore. But I mean, there's so many pluses down here, it would be hard for me to imagine too many guys willingly walking away.

Well, we'll got to get through tomorrow night before we know if we have another game or if we launch into the draft and free agency. But it's all rapidly approaching. Enjoy it down there tomorrow, CJ. We'll do it again soon. All right on, boys. Good to talk to you." "...Chris Johnston."

Hey, this is Ruby Carr, the host of the podcast Encore. You know how some artists grow to kind of hate their big hit? This is one of those stories, but I promise, still a likable one. Tune in this week to Encore, the stories behind the songs you love, or the incredible story of Vanessa Carlton's 2002 hit, A Thousand Miles. I recorded the episode while riding a piano around New York City. Not really, that would be cool though. Listen to Encore on the iHeart app or wherever you get your podcasts for stories behind all the songs you love.